Q: How long should it take to safely change from our current food to Black Hawk food?

by Sarah, one of the vets on our Black Hawk team.
Published 17 September 2016

Q: How long should it take to safely change from our current food to Black Hawk food?

When transitioning between any diets, it’s important to do so slowly.

Veterinarians usually recommend transitioning over 1-2 weeks (2 weeks is better), regardless of what diets you’re transitioning between. This is because “good” bacteria and “bad” bacteria are both present in the gut at all times. The good bacteria outnumber the bad bacteria, and this allows the gut to function normally. When changing food, the good bacteria in the gut need time to adapt and change, to cope with digesting the new food. If a transition period isn’t allowed, the good bacteria are overwhelmed and an overgrowth of bad bacteria will occur. This can result in a temporary diarrhoea. This isn’t the same as a true infection, in that the dog shouldn’t go off of its food, or have a temperature. But it can cause a sore tummy. It is very common for dogs to have softer stools during the transition period, and isn’t anything to worry about. This should all resolve by the end of the transition period.

Please note, if your dog’s diarrhoea fails to resolve, your dog goes off of its food or seems unwell, then it needs to be seen by a veterinarian.

When you transition onto Black Hawk you may notice a few changes. Because of the high protein content of our food, most dogs will have a small firmer stool. Monitor animals that are prone to constipation for any issues defecating (most dogs will be just fine!). You may also notice that you need to feed less food to maintain the same body weight of your dog. This is because the high protein content of our food makes it energy packed. Basically, this all means less waste to clean up and more time to spend really bonding with your best friend!